Maingan clenched his jaw, steadying his breath. The abyss coiled around him, pressing against his mind like a predator circling its prey. It wanted him to surrender—to embrace the unraveling.
But he was not so easily broken.
His voice was a low growl. "No."
The abyss trembled, resisting.
Maingan exhaled sharply. "You don't control me. I control you."
The shadows wavered, uncertain. The whispers returned, softer now, questioning. The abyss had never been denied before.
A flicker of pain lanced through Maingan's skull, but he didn't falter. His fingers curled into a fist, and with sheer force of will, he pulled the abyss back into himself, forcing it to heel. The darkness shrank, no longer a devouring force but an extension of him once more.
The Nephilim's smile faded. "You... You shouldn't be able to—"
Maingan's golden eyes returned, the black retreating. "I am not yours to take."
Shifting his focus back to the Gaint, he spoke in a calm voice.
"I've heard of your kind before," he said. "Long before today."
The Nephilim's eye widened.
"I wanted to fight one of you."
"That's why I fought the others."
The Nephilim snarled, trying to break free, but the abyss held firm.
"I needed to test my physical strength."
Maingan clenched his fist. The abyss obeyed.
Jeruca and Jason flinched.
"I wanted to see," Maingan continued, "if I could defeat your kind… without my true power."
The Nephilim froze.
Understanding dawned in its eye.
This was never a battle of desperation.
It was a test.
And now that Maingan had his answer…
With one final motion, he clenched his hand. The abyss obeyed.
The Nephilim let out a strangled gasp as the last of its existence was consumed, crushed into nothingness. Its third eye flickered—fear flashing in its gaze—before it was gone. The battlefield fell into silence.
The darkness dissipated.
The weight of his power lifted, leaving Maingan standing in the ruined wasteland. He rolled his shoulders, exhaling, as if shaking off a burden.
But behind him, Jeruca and Jason still hadn't moved.
---
Jeruca's Thoughts:
His hands trembled.
'That wasn't just power. That wasn't just a skill sharpened by training or a technique honed over time.'
What he had just witnessed was something else entirely.
A force that should not be controlled. A force that should not exist within Maingan or any living being.
And yet, Maingan had wielded it—then walked away as if it were nothing.
Jeruca swallowed. 'He pulled it back. Just like that. Like it was… easy.'
But it wasn't easy. It couldn't have been.
Something inside Maingan had changed in that moment. Jeruca had known him for years, fought beside him, trusted him with his life. But now…
For the first time, he wasn't sure if he truly knew him at all.
'That… that wasn't just power. '
'That was something else.'
The way the abyss responded to him. The way he controlled it without hesitation.
'The way he had spoken to the Nephilim—so casually, so confidently, as if it had never been a threat to him in the first place.'
Jeruca swallowed.
'How long has he been holding back?'
---
Jason's Thoughts:
His grip on his weapon was weak. He barely noticed how tightly he had been holding it.
'That wasn't a battle. It was an execution.'
'The Nephilim had adapted, learned, evolved.
And Maingan had erased it anyway.'
Jason exhaled, his heartbeat finally slowing.
'We never stood a chance.'
It wasn't just Maingan's strength. It was the way he had spoken. The way he had tested the Nephilim, like it was a curiosity. The way he had declared his power as his own, defying something ancient and hungry—and won.
Jason watched him now, standing before them, as if the battle had never happened.
And he couldn't help but wonder—
'How much of Maingan was still human?'
---
Jeruca finally forced himself to speak. "What the hell was that, Maingan?"
Maingan turned to them, his usual calm expression settling back over his features. He tilted his head slightly. "That?"
He met their gazes, unreadable.
"That was me being serious."
Jeruca felt cold.
Jason said nothing.
Because deep down, they both knew—
This wasn't just about power anymore.
---